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Topic: North Idaho Ice (Read 214811 times)

Spirit was good last weekend, nearly limited out. Was 7'' of ice but lots of slush, had 4-5'' of water on top of the ice. Sonar is recommended as there were fish from 15-50' and it varied from minute to minute.

Spirit was good last weekend, nearly limited out. Was 7'' of ice but lots of slush, had 4-5'' of water on top of the ice. Sonar is recommended as there were fish from 15-50' and it varied from minute to minute.

Never fished spirit before, headed out Sunday morning. Any location sugguations for a spirit newbie?

The Maiden Rock Access at the east end of the lake is where most are fishing. You access it by Nautical Loop Rd on the west side of Hwy 41, there is a parking area up the hill from the ramp maybe 75 yards. I put a small dark blue oval where most people have been fishing, if you have sonar it is extremely helpful. We were fishing in 80 feet of water.

The Maiden Rock Access at the east end of the lake is where most are fishing. You access it by Nautical Loop Rd on the west side of Hwy 41, there is a parking area up the hill from the ramp maybe 75 yards. I put a small dark blue oval where most people have been fishing, if you have sonar it is extremely helpful. We were fishing in 80 feet of water.

We don't target the Perch but catch one occasionally one guy caught a big Crappie a few weeks ago. There are a few Chinook but they are only 14-15'' so not keepers. Be prepared for slush, we had 4-5'' of water on top of the ice, you might want to take a net to get the fish that flop back into that water and can swim all over and get back down the hole.

If you stayed on the beaten path you were good but as soon as you walk off it you have a 50/50 chance of braking through a frozen layer but the ice was like 8-10" where we were fishing with 5" of water on top with 2-3" of ice on top of that

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Fishaholic yes I am do I need help only with finding a bigger place to store all my stuff

I canít wait for a response; I am ready to try pike fishing again. I am so tired of watching 1 or two guys being successful catching the Kokanee on Spirit Lake while 29 other guys donít get nothing. You would think that if I spend $7.00 on Fire Corn that I could catch one of them. I also donít feel that folks should post up maps to such a tough fishery.

I canít wait for a response; I am ready to try pike fishing again. I am so tired of watching 1 or two guys being successful catching the Kokanee on Spirit Lake while 29 other guys donít get nothing. You would think that if I spend $7.00 on Fire Corn that I could catch one of them. I also donít feel that folks should post up maps to such a tough fishery.

Well, after fishing Avondale almost daily for the last two weeks at an average catch rate of only 1 perch/hr (today a little better at 2.5/hr), I can definitely understand your discouragement. On the other hand, if at least 1 guy is successful, that should give you some optimism! Thinking back to last year's historic hardwater koke fishing on Hayden, I remember many times where only 1 guy in maybe a dozen or more guys consistently scored pretty much every time I saw him in a 2-week period. In addition to using sonar (which I was, as it is almost a requirement for this kind of fishing), he was using krill shrimp from Petco -- and coupled with his sonar know-how, it worked really well for him. Point is, he was nice enough to share his knowledge just because I asked. Maybe those 1 or 2 guys on Spirit would do likewise - and I'm betting one of them is CMS, based on those great photos of his recent koke catch with the bonus crappie! Anyone tried Fernan lately? Looks like someone drilled holes within the last 2 or 3 days.

What has been working for me has been a small hand tied hook dropped 6" below a chrom Swedish pimple with the red prism sticker. I have found that the smaller the presentation the better. I have been using size 14 and 16 and only putting 1 maggot on it. The area that Jim highlighted in the map is the general area that we've been having luck consistently. I also think that a lot depends on your rod, they have been biting so light that without a sensitive tip you won't even know you got bit. Last year I bought a 42" perch assault rod that has been great. I also have great luck with a tickle stick. With Kokanee it's the more the merrier, a group of guys jigging can hold a school below so everyone can keep catching them before the school moves on. If you are 1 or 2 guys you might get a couple out of a group before they move on.

It takes a little bit to get a jig cadence figured out then a slow lift and if your tip slows then give a yank, if you're expecting a big tug you'll miss every time. I was fortunate enough to meet a couple nice guys on mirror last year that showed me a lot. All the kokanee fisherman I've ran into have all be willing to share tips. If I end up getting out again before ice out you're more than welcome to meet up. I'm no expert by any means.

I canít wait for a response; I am ready to try pike fishing again. I am so tired of watching 1 or two guys being successful catching the Kokanee on Spirit Lake while 29 other guys donít get nothing. You would think that if I spend $7.00 on Fire Corn that I could catch one of them. I also donít feel that folks should post up maps to such a tough fishery.

I have been fishing Spirit for about 40 years and like CMS says if you get a bunch of people out there fishing in the same spot you can hold the school there and everyone benefits. That is why I posted the maps, and it is not a tough fishery it just takes knowing how to hook the fish. Like CMS says you bounce the rod tip a few times and then start raising the rod up and watching the tip, if it acts like the tip is not coming up as fast then set the hook. I took a guy out to Mirror on Sun and gave him an ultra light rod that I had around, he figured out how to see the bite pretty quickly but would loose them about half way up. I finally figured out that the rod was too slow action so he couldn't set the hook solidly enough. Here is a pic of the rig I use with the hooks that CMS tied up. That ''spoon'' is a Deadly Dick but a Kastmater or Sweedish Pimple wil work as well.

Im going to bite the bullet and finally fish lower twin for kokanee tomorrow been hearing good things about the size of the kokanee

I wonder what the walking conditions are like there. I went to Mirror on Sunday and there was about 6 inches of snow with a hard 1.5'' crust, I broke through every step and then was into 4'' of slush, for an old busted up guy like me it was a tough go.

I wonder what the walking conditions are like there. I went to Mirror on Sunday and there was about 6 inches of snow with a hard 1.5'' crust, I broke through every step and then was into 4'' of slush, for an old busted up guy like me it was a tough go.

I just bought a pair of snowshoes just for those conditions. (Atlas Montane Series Snowshoe) On sale $125.May sound like a lot, but used them today in 10 in snow with a layer of slush underneath. Iím 62 and pulled my sled behind and it was amazing. Watched another guy struggle to get out in just boots. Itís a workout just getting dressed these days but man, best purchase for those conditions. Stayed on top. period.

I just bought a pair of snowshoes just for those conditions. (Atlas Montane Series Snowshoe) On sale $125.May sound like a lot, but used them today in 10 in snow with a layer of slush underneath. Iím 62 and pulled my sled behind and it was amazing. Watched another guy struggle to get out in just boots. Itís a workout just getting dressed these days but man, best purchase for those conditions. Stayed on top. period.

I was thinking about breaking mine out too, I was wishing I had a pair of X-country skies.

I just bought a pair of snowshoes just for those conditions. (Atlas Montane Series Snowshoe) On sale $125.May sound like a lot, but used them today in 10 in snow with a layer of slush underneath. Iím 62 and pulled my sled behind and it was amazing. Watched another guy struggle to get out in just boots. Itís a workout just getting dressed these days but man, best purchase for those conditions. Stayed on top. period.

. Snowshoes definitely the way to go on slushy. Rarely leave home without em

I have been fishing Spirit for about 40 years and like CMS says if you get a bunch of people out there fishing in the same spot you can hold the school there and everyone benefits. That is why I posted the maps, and it is not a tough fishery it just takes knowing how to hook the fish. Like CMS says you bounce the rod tip a few times and then start raising the rod up and watching the tip, if it acts like the tip is not coming up as fast then set the hook. I took a guy out to Mirror on Sun and gave him an ultra light rod that I had around, he figured out how to see the bite pretty quickly but would loose them about half way up. I finally figured out that the rod was too slow action so he couldn't set the hook solidly enough. Here is a pic of the rig I use with the hooks that CMS tied up. That ''spoon'' is a Deadly Dick but a Kastmater or Sweedish Pimple wil work as well.

. Not gonna argue with a 40 year vet, but if you're having trouble with these more complex methods, don't be afraid to try keeping it simple. If I'm on a school, I catch em on the initial drop off a small Kastmaster almost every drop. Just letting that spoon free fall to their depth, then stop it and wait. If nothing for 20 or so seconds, slow lift (probably one or two in a day grab it on the lift, so might as well go slow just in case) then free fall, wait 20 or seconds, repeat. Maggot on one or two of the trebles. If the fish are there you'll get em. And with the bite directly at the spoon, rather than on a much less weighty drop hook, the takes are much more obvious. You gotta think, with that drop hook, they have to not just grab the hook, but also move that weightier spoon before you see any reaction in your rod. Just catching em directly with the spoon doesn't have that issue.

. Not gonna argue with a 40 year vet, but if you're having trouble with these more complex methods, don't be afraid to try keeping it simple. If I'm on a school, I catch em on the initial drop off a small Kastmaster almost every drop. Just letting that spoon free fall to their depth, then stop it and wait. If nothing for 20 or so seconds, slow lift (probably one or two in a day grab it on the lift, so might as well go slow just in case) then free fall, wait 20 or seconds, repeat. Maggot on one or two of the trebles. If the fish are there you'll get em. And with the bite directly at the spoon, rather than on a much less weighty drop hook, the takes are much more obvious. You gotta think, with that drop hook, they have to not just grab the hook, but also move that weightier spoon before you see any reaction in your rod. Just catching em directly with the spoon doesn't have that issue.

To each his own but the key is in the lift. I learned to catch blue back when the only way they were being caught was on handlines other than trolling for them. The handline had a weight painted red on the bottom and two or three hand wrapped snelled #12 hooks about 1' apart with a maggot on each hook. You dropped the weight down to where the fish were and holding the line you move your hand in the motion of turning a crank, and then slowly start lifting the line, you usually feel a weight on the line and set the hook. If you feel a bite you most likely will miss the fish. After setting the hook you would pull the line over the gunnel and coil it in the bottom of the boat. There was a commercial catch of kokanee up untill the mid 60's I believe. The commercial limit was 200 fish/day and the regular limit was 50/day.